Journal for Star Wisdom 2010

Daniel Andreev (1906-1959) was born in Berlin. His father was the well-known Russian writer Leonid Andreev. His mother Alexandra Veligorsky died during childbirth. Daniel's father, overcome with grief, gave up Andreev to Alexandra's sister Elizabeth Dobrov, who lived in Moscow. It was a critical event in Daniel Andreev's life, for in contrast to many of the Russian intelligentsia at the time, the maintained its Russian Orthodox faith. Daniel's childhood included contact with persons as his godfather Maxim Gorky. Daniel was conscripted as a noncombatant in the Soviet Army in 1942, and after the war he returned to writing fiction and poetry. Daniel Andreev was arrested in 1947, along with his wife and many of his relatives and friends, and sentenced to twenty-five years in prison, while his wife received twenty-five years of labor camp. All of previous writing was destroyed. With the rise of Khrushchev, Andreev's case was reviwed and his sentence reduced to ten years. He was released to his waiting wife in 1957, his health ruined following a heart attack in prison. While in prison, he had written the first drafts of The Rose of the World and Russian Gods (a collection of poetry), as well as The Iron Mystery, a play in verse. Andreev spent the last two years of his life finishing his work on these works. Andreev's wife Alla, realizing the negative reception the books would get from the Soviet authorities, hid them until the mid-seventies, but didn't publish them until Gorbachev and glasnost. The first edition of The Rose of the World (100,000 copies) quickly sold out, and since then several editions have been equally popular in Russia.

David Tresemer, PhD, has a doctorate in psychology, and is associate professor of psychology at Rudolf Steiner College for the certificate program in Counseling Psychology, with concentration in Anthroposophic Psychology. He has written in many areas, ranging from The Scythe Book: Mowing Hay, Cutting Weeds, and Harvesting Small Grains with Hand Tools to a book about mythic theater, War in Heaven: Accessing Myth Through Drama, and a book on astrology-seen-intelligently, Star Wisdom and Rudolf Steiner: A Life Seen through the Oracle of the Solar Cross, as well as The Venus Eclipse of the Sun. David's has also written numerous articles on the connection of celestial events to human experience.

Ellen Schalk was born in Stuttgart shortly before the Nazis came to power in Germany. As a teenager, she experienced the ravages wrought by World War II, after which she studied mathematics, geography, and geology at the Technical College in Stuttgart, where she encountered Anthroposophy. Later, through her anthroposophic studies, met Ernst Bindel, whom Rudolf Steiner had asked to teach mathematics at the original Waldorf school in Stuttgart. In 1961, Ernst Bindel invited Ms. Schalk to teach mathematics at the Waldorf school, where she became a teacher. On sabbatical leave from the school in 1976, she met Werner Greub and became interested in his research into the historical and geographical background of the Grail events, which he later published in his book Wolfram von Eschenbach and the Reality of the Grail. Through her studies, and with the encouragement of Werner Greub, she penetrated deeper into the mysteries of the stellar script of the Parsifal story. Today, she lives in a retirement home in Stuttgart and loves to play piano and flute, and occasionally plays the organ for special occasions at the Christian Community church.

Robert Schiappacasse has been a student of Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophy for more than thirty years. He developed a deep interest humanity's relationship to the world of the stars and, in 1977, began studies with Willi Sucher, a pioneer researcher in the field of Astrosophy, or star wisdom. He presents at conferences and workshops on star wisdom themes and other anthroposophic topics. He is coauthor with David Tresemer and William Bento of the book Signs in the Heavens: A message for our Time, about the comets Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp and their crossing of the mysterious and ominous star Algol at the end of the twentieth century. Robert most recently worked with David Tresemer on the Book Star Wisdom and Rudolf Steiner: A life Seen through the Oracle of the Solar Cross. He also coauthored articles with David Tresemer, including "The Chain Reaction Experiment"; "The Signature of Saturn in Christ Jesus' Life"; and "The Signature of Pluto in the Events of Christ Jesus' Life."

William Bento, PhD, worked in the field of human development for more than thirty years. He was a recognized pioneer and a published author in psychosophy (soul wisdom) and astrosophy (star wisdom), and traveled extensively as a speaker, teacher, and consultant. Dr. Bento was the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at Rudolf Steiner College in Fair Oaks, California, and worked as a transpersonal clinical psychologist at the Center for Living Health in Gold River, California. He also guided social therapy seminars for Camphill Communities for more than twenty years. Dr. Bento was also the author of Holy Nights Journal and Meditation Cards & Booklet on the Eightfold Path and a frequent contributor to Journal for Star Wisdom. He died June 5, 2015.